Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Why Screws Are Designed The Way They Are: by Jon Kuhman, Engineering Manager, Glycon Corp
Why Screws Are Designed The Way They Are: by Jon Kuhman, Engineering Manager, Glycon Corp
Why Screws Are Designed The Way They Are: by Jon Kuhman, Engineering Manager, Glycon Corp
The selection of the proper screw for a given injection molding or extrusion application can be critical to its success. Screw
geometry — length-to-diameter ratio, profile, channel depth, compression ratio, helix angle and a host of special design
features — has everything to do with how well the screw performs in a given application.
There are documented applications where will run very few materials well and a lot of
customers have improved production rates effort and money has been invested trying to
or reduced cycle times by 30 or 40% simply get a given level of throughput or quality out
by switching to an improved screw design. of a GP screw.
Similarly, reject rates have been lowered Does this mean that you have to buy a special
from more than 4-6% to less than _ of 1% screw for every different material you run?
by incorporating a custom designed mixing Not necessarily. There are groups of materials
screw. And experience shows that the amount that have similar processing characteristics and
of color concentrate required to achieve opti- they can often be processed with reasonable
mum color mix can be typically reduced from effectiveness on similar screws. The trick is
4% (of the total blend) to 2%, just by using knowing when to make a compromise that
an optimized screw design. When considering will maximize the number of resins that can
resin and concentrate costs, payback for an be processed on a given screw, and when
optimized screw and non-return valve design to optimize screw design so as to improve
can be almost immediate. performance.
So it would seem to make sense to optimize Let’s look at what makes a screw function
the screw to the greatest degree possible. On and then consider how these design features
the other hand, many processors run a variety can be combined and fine-tuned to produce
of different materials and find it too costly or a screw that represents the “best compromise”
time consuming to change screws every time … the screw that will process the most
they change materials. These processors ask materials at as close to optimally as possible.
for a General Purpose (GP) screw, hoping to
run many different resins with reasonable
effectiveness. In reality, though, a GP screw
SCREW DESIGN BASICS
The standard metering screw — single-flighted,
single-stage — incorporates the following
five features (see Figure 1):
L/D Ratio: The length-to-diameter ratio
of the screw is the ratio of the flighted length
of the screw to its diameter. Most injection Figure 1. Illustration shows a standard single-flighted, single-stage
screws have L/D ratios that range from an feedscrew. Cross-sections show unmelted pellets in the feed section,
partial melting in the transition (with segregation of melt and
18:1 to 24:1 ratio, while extrusion and blow- unmelt), and fully melted material in the metering section.
molding screws generally range from 24:1 to
30:1. L/D ratio can be a very important factor
in screw design. Using the proper length screw
is critical to optimizing your process. Certain
materials and processes dictate different screw
lengths. Injection molding screws, as a rule,
enters the feed section, where it is compacted,
are shorter than extrusion screws for a few
begins to melt and is conveyed down the barrel
reasons. A critical factor in extrusion is the
to the transition zone. Here is where most of
“metering” or pumping section of the screw.
the compression and melting takes place as
This is the shallow section at the downstream
the root diameter of the screw gradually
end of screw which, in extrusion, is critical to
increases and channel depth decreases. Final
overcoming head pressure. In injection mold-
melting takes place in the metering section,
ing, this isn’t a factor, so a screw designer can
where it is conveyed forward along a con-
typically use this length for other functions of
stant depth while reaching a temperature
the screw. Other critical factors in extrusion,
and viscosity that is necessary to form parts.
generally, are output rates and mixing. Both
The screw profile is defined as the length,
of these ends are easier to accomplish with a
in diameters or flights, of each of the three
longer screw. However, because we are asking
zones. A 10-5-5 screw indicates a 20:1 L/D
the screws to do more and more in injection
screw with 10 diameters of flighted surface in
molding these days, we are starting to see
the feed zone, 5 diameters in the transition
the utilization of longer L/Ds (i.e. 24:1) more
zone, and 5 diameters in the metering zone.
frequently. However, some materials that are
Channel depth: Feed and transition
extremely heat sensitive dictate shorter L/D
zone channel depths are dependent upon the
ratios, especially in injection molding. With
selected compression ratio and screw profile.
these materials, it is especially important
The resin being processed determines the
to tailor your screw to the materials you
channel depth of the feed and metering
are running.
zone. A deeper feed zone can lead to higher
Screw profile: There are three zones in the
output rates, however it is critical that this
flighted length of the typical screw. These are
feed section be properly accompanied by a
the feed section, the transition or compression
melting and metering zone that is efficient
section, and the metering section. Plastic first
enough to handle the increased material
feeding. A screw is limited in output rate by its
melting capacity, otherwise the melt quality Conventional Screw Melting
off the end of the screw suffers dramatically.
Melt Pool Solid Bed Unmelt
Compression ratio: The ratio of the
channel depth in the feed zone to the channel
depth in the meter zone is the compression
ratio. It typically ranges from 1.5:1 to 4:1 for
most thermoplastic materials. Compression
ratio is one of the most often talked about
characteristics of screw design, and rightfully Barrel
Glycon, Inc
912 Industrial Drive
Tecumseh, MI 49286
Phone: 800-255-9969
Fax: 517-423-7470
www.glycon.com